George Strait: Candles & The Win

George Strait and Tony Brown win Single of the Year at "The 42nd Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: John Russell / CMA 11/12/2008 Photo by Country Music Association

Nov. 14, 2008 — George Strait took command of the all-time career victory chart with a pair of wins at the 42nd annual Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday and expanded the span of his trophies to a 23 years.

George won his first CMA Awards in 1985, when Carrie Underwood was 2 years old, Taylor Swift had yet to be born and Tim McGraw was still living in Louisiana. Despite the fact that winning is familiar to George, it hasn’t yet gotten blasé.

"He really does still enjoy gettin’ these awards, and that’s what’s so cool," George’s longtime producer, Tony Brown, said backstage. "Some artists try to be cavalier about it like it’s no big deal. I don’t speak to George very often on the phone, very seldom. He called me from San Antonio [Monday], and he said, ‘I’m goin’ to catch my plane, and I hope we win tomorrow night.’ I said, ‘That’s so cool. Me, too. Light candles.’ So when we come off stage after gettin’ the award, I said, ‘You must’ve lit those candles last night.’ So it’s fun, you know, havin’ fun with an artist who still likes being a country artist and loves what he does."

George picked up Single of the Year for "I Saw God Today" and took Album for Troubadour. Because he co-produced those recordings with Tony, George actually collected four trophies, bringing his career total to 22. That vaulted him past Brooks & Dunn, who’ve amassed 19 CMA victories during their career.

In addition to winning, George also performed "River Of Love" — the third single from Troubadour — on the show.